Something's a' brewing...

Now that many of our home renovations are done - we've had some time to begin brewing our own beer. We live in the great state of Utah, and it is great, don't get me wrong - but the liquor laws are just so backwards that we decided to take things into our own hands. So, we chose to keg our beer so we would not have to collect, wash, sterilize, and fill a gazillion bottles of beer. Our first brew (Goblin's Brew) was an amber that was actually pretty good after we waited patiently for it to mellow our. For the second batch we went with a kit from the Rogue Brewery, Dead Guy Ale. It is delicious but the verdict is still out as to how it compares to the real thing. We have to pick up a bottle for comparison.

This bucket sure was tough to open!

I had the complicated job of holding the end of the tube against the keg.

HOME - Joys of home ownership

Rob and I are now officially the proud new owners of a home built in 1913. We knew it would be a lot of work and even though we are sore and tired of spending money - we are having a great time updating much of the house. We were hoping to salvage the original Douglas Fir flooring in the front room and bedrooms - but much to our chagrin - there were nails every 16 inches - likely to diminish the squeeky floor. We could not remove, pound down, or sand over the nails - so we had to go with Plan B - a new hardwood floor. We are using Acacia in the front room, pre-stained and all set to install. We went with this type b/c it is 3/4-inch real wood - rather than the engineered hardwood that is iffy to refinish. In the bedrooms, we are using bamboo - but it's a grass, not wood. Here are a series of photos of the front room and the work we have done so far. If you know of anyone looking for brass fixtures (lights, door knobs, hooks) - we have them from every room in the house that are yours for the taking. All of the new sub-floor is down, boxes of wood, and bamboo are open - tomorrow is a painting day.

I am pretty sure that the rhubarb raspberry jam is my number 2.5 favorite jam ever - right behind strawberry freezer jam and tied with apricot. I will be sure to hoard this jam, just like the apricot I still have in the basement. Speaking of which, I ought to pull that out and eat it before the apricots really start showing up at the market. The rhubarab did not breakdown as I hoped, instead I processed it for about 5 seconds, got it boiling, then added the pectin and raspberries. This jam has a really vibrant color.

We are closing on our new house in 7 days and are very excited. Our current rental, while a nice place to have called home for 8 months, is becoming a pain in the behind. It's up for sale, meaning we have to leave the house in the evenings - with dogs in tow - so that people can come see the house. I would be much happier about the whole thing if we got something out of it - like a decrease in rent... Instead, we have to deal with a young realtor that is awfully unprofessional - requesting that we leave the house open rather than putting out a lock box. Lock box is now up per our insistence.

My first post

Welcome to my very first blog posting. I didn't think I would have a blog - at least not until we have children to brag about. Yet - here I am, ready to share my thoughts and activities with those who are interested in what I am up to on a regular basis. I am thinking pretty seriously about canning right now. The veggies and fruits are roaring into the Farmer's Market here in SLC. Tomorrow I am trying my hand at rhubarb raspberry jam. I've got the rhubarb chopped up and soaking in some lemon juice and sugar overnight. I have never made anything with rhubarb and thought I've give it a go - mainly because I have been steering clear of that wacky vegetable due to it's uncanny likeness to my least favorite veggie, the big C - I cannot even bring myself to type the word.

I am not sure if I'll have to process the rhubarb before I add the raspberries or if it'll lose it's structure when I cook it - we will see tomorrow. I have already put in an emergency canning call to Lisa concerning the amount of sugar the recipe call for - far too much for my taste so I am going to cut it in half and see how that works - also, I am going to put in 4xs the raspberries - so I suppose I am not really following a recipe at this point...